Together Apart [Audiobook] [Hardcover]

Dianne Gray (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Isaac, on the run from his oppressive stepfather, needs time to hammer out a plan for his future. Hannah needs space to mend the hurt of losing two brothers to the blizzard—space she can’t find in her family’s crowded soddie. Determination, a healthy dose of luck, and a handbill advertising a position for an “Apprentice in a Growing Business Concern” draw first one, then the other of these former schoolmates to the stately home of the unconventional Eliza Moore. Like the stumbled-upon haystack that sheltered Hannah and Isaac from the blizzard and saved their lives, Eliza’s house becomes a safe, if temporary, haven. One day Hannah and Isaac will need to face their lives again, out in the open. That day is coming all too soon.
Author Dianne E. Gray based this fictional story on a real event in history: the “School Children’s Blizzard,” a fierce storm that engulfed the plains states on January 12, 1888. Striking many regions during the school day, the death toll included many rural children. In imagining the aftermath of this tragedy, Gray conceived two memorable young people whose stories are bound together by the storm.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gray's (Holding Up the Earth) coming-of-age tale set on the Nebraska prairie in 1888 is as carefully crafted as an heirloom quilt. The story unfolds through the alternating perspectives of narrators 14-year-old Hannah and 15-year-old Isaac, who both accept jobs from progressive Eliza Moore, the judge's widow-and fall in love. Hannah's family is still reeling from a devastating blizzard (an afterword describes the one that served as inspiration for the book) in which many local schoolchildren perished, including two of Hannah's brothers. Hannah herself survived by sheltering in a haystack with Isaac, and the incident stirred up gossip. In the confines of her family's cramped sod house, Hannah feels the full weight of her father's grief, anger and shame, which prompts her to seek work with Widow Moore. Isaac, meanwhile, has run away from his abusive stepfather and a stifling life of sod-busting ("There wasn't any music in this work, at least none I could hear" ). The two help the woman to open a "resting room" for visiting farm women and to print a newspaper about women's suffrage, and their intertwined first-person accounts reflect an effective use of voice-Hannah's quieter tone (an answer to the widow's question "began to take shape, slowly, like bread rising") contrasting with Isaac's folksy twang ("I approached the [printing] press as if it were an unbroken colt-stout-heartedly but with a heap of respect"). The blossoming love story will keep readers involved, and Gray's memorable characters reveal the late 19th-century society's attitudes toward women's rights and class consciousness. Ages 10-14.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-For her backdrop, Gray uses the historic "School Children's Blizzard" of January, 1888, which took the lives of 500 to 1000 Midwesterners. This novel opens several months afterward, and deals with two young people who survived the storm by burrowing into a haystack. Hannah and Isaac meet again at the home of Eliza Moore, a young widow. Feeling responsible for the deaths of two of her siblings, a sentiment shared by her unforgiving father, Hannah has fled there to work. Isaac, escaping from an abusive stepfather, is hired by the woman to operate her printing press. While the book starts by focusing on the teens' problems and their largely unspoken feeling for one another, much of it deals with Eliza Moore, who opens a resting room for farm women and disseminates feminist ideas through her newsletter. As a result, the tension drops to almost nothing. In the end, the teens' situations do show promise of being dealt with-mostly outside the boundaries of the book's pages. Gray's greatest strength lies in the poetic beauty of her words, but in many cases it prevents the book from being realistic. That the sentence structure feels starchy lends credibility to the book being set in the Victorian era.
Catherine Ensley, Latah County Free Library District, Moscow, ID
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; 1ST edition (August 26, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618187219
• ISBN-13: 978-0618187218
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,173,703 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Terrific Book!, December 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Together Apart (Hardcover)

This story, told as it is from the alternating viewpoints of a girl and boy who shared a close-to-death experience, is full of powerful images and strong emotions. The cast of characters covers a wide range of personalities, some colorful, some heart-warming, and some downright mean. The plot grabs you and pulls you along, as the two teens leave their homes to live in town, meeting those who will be in their lives forever and others who'd like to send them back home. A wonderfully good read for older kids who enjoyed Little House on the Prairie.

5.0 out of 5 stars What Happens After The Blizzard, November 26, 2011

By 

NebraskaIcebergs - See all my reviews

This review is from: Together Apart (Hardcover)

When I first read the the synopsis of Together Apart, I thought it would be another book about storm survival. While the blizzard that affected the lives of the main characters was a real event known as The School Children's Blizzard, Together Apart is about much more. Many people who survive natural disasters say that the main thing is that their family lived. While that may be true, it is also just as true that the real story lies in what happens after the disaster. Together Apart is what happens to the fictional Hannah Barnett, whose two brothers died in the blizzard of 1888. As for Hannah, she huddled with a local boy to keep warm--incurring rumors in the community about their relationship and causing estrangement with her farming family. Needing her own space to grieve, Hannah applies for town for work. She receives a job from the unconventional Eliza Moore, who prints a gazette promoting women's suffrage. Together Apart is also about Isaac, the boy with whom Hannah huddled to stay alive. When Isaac tires of abuse from his step-father, he runs away but only to the nearby town because he wishes to stay close to his mom. There are plenty of other things I could tell you about Together Apart, such as how much I loved the chapter about the play that Hannah writes about Fair Wind and Wild Wind, but I'd prefer for you to discover these delectable treasures for yourself by reading the book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Coming of age while overcoming challenges, March 18, 2005

By 

HenderHouse (Libertyville, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Together Apart (Hardcover)

Using a real historical event (The Children's Blizzard of 1888), Gray constructs a believable story of two young people trying to overcome their own struggles. Hannah feels guilt over surving the terrible blizzard while her brothers did not. Isaac -- who kept Hannah safe during the blizzard -- has a terrible home life. They both join leagues with Eliza Moore, a young widow and suffragette. Young readers will sympathsize with Hannah and Isaac who are trying to stand on their own two feet and make a difference in the world. Readers will also wonder if Hannah and Isaac's growing fondness for each other will turn into something more permanant. A good read for 5th grade and up.